Classical Music

Praised by some, dismissed by others, the Chicago theatre doyenne Mary Zimmerman’s new production of “Lucia di Lammermoor” (set in Victorian-era Scotland) returns, after opening the season back in September. Its thrilling singer of the title role, Natalie Dessay, is back, along with the excellent Mariusz Kwiecien and John Relyea. New to the team is Giuseppe Filianoti, as Edgardo; James Levine conducts. (March 5 at 8 and March 8 at 1:30.) | The soprano Ruth Ann Swenson, perhaps not the most magnetic singer in the world but still a house favorite, leads the cast of “La Traviata” along with her fellow-Americans Matthew Polenzani (as Alfredo) and Dwayne Croft (as Germont); the dependable Marco Armiliato is in the pit. (March 6 at 8.) | In taking up the title role of Benjamin Britten’s “Peter Grimes” at the Met, the tenor Anthony Dean Griffey joins a glorious tradition that has included the contributions of the heroic Jon Vickers, the elegant Anthony Rolfe Johnson, and the incisive Philip Langridge. Expect Griffey, a singer with a lovely tone and great sensitivity, to bring out the more vulnerable aspects of Britten’s tough and troubled fisherman. Patricia Racette and Anthony Michaels-Moore join him at the head of the cast; the fine Scottish maestro Donald Runnicles conducts. (March 7 and March 11 at 8.) | Elijah Moshinsky’s production of Verdi’s (very) grand opera “Otello” almost overpowers the Met’s stage with its towering scenery, but when the principals are front and center, the action comes alive as gripping theatre. Johan Botha successfully takes up the challenge of the title role with an intensely lyrical and technically secure portrayal; Renée Fleming, as Desdemona, proves that she can still exploit the resources of her uncommonly expressive voice with elegance and taste. With Carlo Guelfi as Iago; Semyon Bychkov. (March 8 at 8:30.) | Deborah Voigt embarks upon her long-awaited first rendition at the Met of Isolde in “Tristan und Isolde,” performing a role she sang to acclaim in Vienna. Ben Heppner takes the other title role, heading a cast that also features Michelle DeYoung (Brangäne) and the great veteran Matti Salminen (King Marke); James Levine. (March 10 at 7.) (Metropolitan Opera House. 212-362-6000.)

NEW YORK CITY OPERA

The city’s second professional company, not yet under the command of the Parisian radical Gérard Mortier, opens its spring season with a typical mixture of Italian classics and Baroque novelties. This year it’s Henry Purcell’s “King Arthur,” which, in a new production directed and choreographed by Mark Morris, should be anything but typical: ditching John Dryden’s text (Purcell’s piece is officially a “semi-opera”—that is, musical decoration for a spoken play), Morris turns the musical numbers into a risqué, over-the-top revue that will show off the talents of the singers (including the house débutants Mhairi Lawson, Iestyn Davies, and Stephen Sanders) and of his Mark Morris Dance Group. The costumes are by Isaac Mizrahi; Jane Glover conducts. (March 5 at 7, March 7 at 8, and March 8-9 at 1:30.) | Mark Lamos’s affectionate production of “Madama Butterfly,” designed with clean lines and filled with a vast expanse of pastel blue, returns to the house. The cast features Shu-Ying Li, James Valenti, Jennifer Tiller, and Michael Chioldi; Steven Mosteller. (March 6 at 7:30 and March 8 at 8.) (New York State Theatre. 212-721-6500.)

OPERA ORCHESTRA OF NEW YORK

Eve Queler, a trailblazer for women conductors and a champion of unfairly neglected operas, will conduct her hundredth performance as the group’s director in a gala concert of arias and ensembles. The starry cast of singers includes Renée Fleming, Aprile Millo, Dolora Zajick, Marcello Giordani, and Stephen Costello; Renata Scotto hosts. (Carnegie Hall. 212-247-7800. March 6 at 8.)

AMATO OPERA: “DON PASQUALE”

When Anthony Amato directed Donizetti’s immortal comedy back in the nineteen-fifties, his beloved wife, Sally, sang the role of the crafty vixen Norina. In the midst of the company’s sixtieth season, Maestro Amato stages it once more (in English) at his diminutive theatre in the East Village. (319 Bowery, at 2nd St. 212-228-8200. March 8 at 2 and 7:30 and March 9 at 2:30.)

“IN-CITE” ARTS FESTIVAL: “THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT”

Michael Nyman’s one-act opera—based on the book by Oliver Sacks—comes to New York in a production presented by the Boston University College of Music. (Helen Mills Theatre, 137-139 W. 26th St. 212-307-4100. March 10 and March 12 at 7.)

NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG

Some programs in this long-running song-recital series (now in its twentieth year) are adventurous, while others have more than a touch of nostalgia. The latest jumps into contemporary opera with both feet: it’s devoted to the world-première performances of two operas by prominent composers for voice, each with a libretto by Mark Campbell—John Musto’s “Bastianello” (inspired by an Italian folktale) and William Bolcom’s “Lucrezia” (based on Machiavelli’s comedy “La Mandragola”). The singers include the mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and the baritone Patrick Mason; Steven Blier and Michael Barrett are at the piano. (Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall. 212-247-7800. March 11 and March 13 at 8.)

ORCHESTRAS AND CHORUSES

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

New York’s flagship orchestra returns from its Asian tour for a program led by its music director designate, Alan Gilbert—an intriguing mix of works by Haydn (the Symphony No. 48, “Maria Theresa”), Beethoven (the Fourth Symphony), and Berio (“Folk Songs,” with the radiant soprano Dawn Upshaw). (Avery Fisher Hall. 212-875-5656. March 5-6 at 7:30, March 7 at 2, and March 8 at 8.)

CHOIR OF ST. THOMAS CHURCH

The choir—the finest Anglican ensemble in America—offers the U.S. première of John Tavener’s “Mass: Sollemnitas in Conceptione Immaculata Beatae Mariae Virginis” (expected to clock in at a leisurely hundred minutes), which it helped commission. John Scott, the esteemed director of the choir, conducts the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. (Fifth Ave. at 53rd St. March 7 at 7:30. To purchase tickets, see www.saintthomaschurch.org.)

BROOKLYN PHILHARMONIC

John Adams’s “Dharma at Big Sur,” a liquid rhapsody for electric violin and orchestra, is a tribute to both Jack Kerouac’s novel “Big Sur” and to the authentically laid-back, trippy tendency in West Coast culture. Leila Josefowicz performs it with Michael Christie and his group in a concert that also features works by Bartók and Takemitsu (the trenchant “Three Film Scores”). (Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave. 718-636-4100. March 8 at 7:30.)

ORCHESTRE SYMPHONIQUE DE MONTRÉAL

Kent Nagano, inheriting the mantle of Charles Dutoit, takes the sumptuous Francophone ensemble to Carnegie Hall for the first time as its new music director. Music both familiar (Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, with Joshua Bell, and Scriabin’s “Poem of Ecstasy”) and novel (Debussy’s Symphonic Fragments from “The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian” and a new work by Unsuk Chin) is on the program. (212-721-6500. March 8 at 8.)

ORCHESTRA OF THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT: “MESSIAH”

Handel’s limpid “entertainment” on Christian themes isn’t just for Christmas anymore. The distinguished London period-instrument ensemble performance, conducted by Laurence Cummings, arrives just ahead of Easter, featuring Lucy Crowe and Andrew Tortoise among the vocal soloists. (Rose Theatre, Broadway at 60th St. 212-721-6500. March 9 at 5.)

TRINITY CHOIR AND REBEL BAROQUE ORCHESTRA

The Baroque specialist Jane Glover, in town for City Opera’s “King Arthur,” leads the two groups in two of the great Haydn Masses, the “Theresienmesse” and the “Schöpfungsmesse.” (Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall St. 866-468-7619. March 11 at 7:30.)

RECITALS

EMANUEL AX

The American pianist, admired for his intelligence and poise, offers music by Beethoven (the Sonatas Nos. 2 and 23, “Appassionata”) and Schumann at Carnegie Hall. (212-247-7800. March 5 at 8.) | Ax offers a second recital this week, joining members of the New York Philharmonic in a concert featuring works by Mozart and Schumann (the Piano Quartet). (92nd Street Y, Lexington Ave. at 92nd St. 212-415-5500. March 9 at 3.)

BARGEMUSIC

March 5 and March 7 at 8 and March 9 at 4: The barge hits the ground running this week with an opening concert that features a new work by Behzad Ranjbaran (the fifth in its series of thirtieth-anniversary commissions) that is presented along with works by Beethoven and Mozart (the Flute Quartet No. 1 in D Major and the Divertimento for String Trio); the performers include the flutist Julie Scolnik and the violinist Mark Peskanov. | March 8 at 8: The venerable Fine Arts Quartet teams up with the pianist Christina Ortiz to offer a program of works by Fauré, Franck (the Piano Quintet), and Greg Sandow. | March 11 at 8: Occasionally, small chamber orchestras squeeze into the barge’s intimate space. The next is the Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza, which will offer a program of concertos by Telemann, Vivaldi, and Bach. (Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn. 718-624-2083.)

GABRIELA MONTERO

Montero, a young Venezuelan pianist (and Martha Argerich protégée) as renowned for her improvisations as for her performances of other composers’ works, offers a recital that includes Schumann’s “Carnaval” as well as her own inspired keyboard musings. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Ave. at 82nd St. 212-570-3949. March 6 at 8.)

FIREWORKS ENSEMBLE: “SEX MUSIC”

The irreverent young new-music group throws caution to the wind in an impassioned concert that will feature works by Jacob Druckman (“Valentine,” a fantasy for double bass), Frank Zappa, and the irrepressible David Del Tredici, along with rock-tinged arrangements of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” and Ravel’s “Bolero.” (Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th St. 212-864-5400. March 7 at 7:30.)

ISABEL BAYRAKDARIAN

At the Met, this Armenian-Canadian soprano is prized for her Mozart performances. At Zankel Hall (accompanied by her husband, Serouj Kradjian), she will sing a selection of songs by Poulenc (“Banalités”), Strauss, Ravel, Jake Heggie, and the Reverend Gomidas—the Sibelius of Armenia. (212-247-7800. March 8 at 7:30.)

BROOKLYN FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC

The Jupiter String Quartet, members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two program, offers one of those rare concerts in which Beethoven is not the main course but instead is dessert (in this case, the Quartet in F Major, Op. 135); it’s preceded by quartets by Mendelssohn, Britten (No. 3, “La Serenissima”), and Kevin Beavers (“Wandlebury Ring”).(Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, 85 S. Oxford St. March 9 at 3. Tickets at the door.)

STEPHEN HOUGH

The elegant and incisive British pianist performs a refreshingly wide-ranging program of works by Beethoven (the Sonata No. 32 in C Minor), Weber, Webern (the Variations, Op. 27), Chopin, and Liszt. (Zankel Hall. 212-247-7800. March 10 at 7:30.)

WASHINGTON SQUARE CONTEMPORARY MUSIC SOCIETY

In “A Celebration of the Voice,” the sopranos Lucy Shelton and Linda Larson (among other singers) perform new works and modern classics by Elliott Carter (“A Mirror on Which to Dwell”), Steven Burke, Tom Cipullo, and others. (Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W. 67th St. 212-501-3330. March 10 at 8.)